Individuals & Collectives Fall 2025 results: Stream 1 & 2

Artists, and the art they produce, serve as the foundation of our cultural ecosystem. Independently or collaboratively, they pursue practices that expand their creative capacities, advance their disciplines, and offer our community thoughtful reflections.

Through its three distinct streams, the Individuals & Collectives program supports a broad spectrum of artistic forms and practices. This program nurtures experimentation, encourages professional growth, fosters collaborative creation, and expands opportunities for public engagement and presentation. 

Stream 1: Exploration & Experimentation of the Individuals & Collectives program supports an individual artist to work on creation, experimentation, or research activities. Grant amounts are fixed at $5,000 to support subsistence and any additional costs to the individual while they take the time to pursue artistic work. 

Twenty-eight (28) applications were recommended for Stream 1 funding for a total of $140,000.

Aeris Osborne will research Edmonton’s historic architecture through her YEG Old Houses paintings and 80+ heritage home photos to develop the foundation for a narrative art book that expands her visual storytelling practice. 

alec skillings used the traditional wet-plate collodion photographic technique to explore waste objects within urban environments in Edmonton as part of his project Street Garbology.

Andrew Ritchie will create the first draft of a new play about the Bluenose, a residential house where dozens of artists lived who created multiple festivals and theatres in Edmonton. 

Ann Mansolino will experiment with non-traditional forms and materials to create sculptural book art works that expand the scope of her existing book art practice. 

Arwa Idris will host free writing sessions and open mic nights with Daaira House, expanding her photographic storytelling practice by fostering collective expression, rooted in her zine Where We Gather.

Aubrianna Snow will focus on the completion of the manuscript for her second novel, a feminist work of fiction focused on the negative impact of social media culture and patriarchal structures in Christianity. 

Autumn Koe will create Gwich’in dog blankets that blend traditional sewing and beadwork with contemporary design, honouring ancestral practices and celebrating the enduring relationship between dogs, people, and culture. 

Belinda Chambers (B) will create mas prototypes inspired by Jamaican Anansi stories, blending research, textiles, to preserve and reinterpret cultural legacy. 

Connor Yuzwenko-Martin will develop the American Sign Language version of a new Deaf/​Queer/​Irish live performance in preparation for workshopping with Deaf actors, with the support of a playwriting mentor through another Canadian program. 

Danielle Siemens will create an archive of the late Edmonton-based photographer Richard Siemens (1953 – 2022), which will involve organizing, cataloguing and storing analogue and digital images created over a 50-year period. 

Diana Ohiozebau will undertake an exploration of embroidery and painting through experimental, process-based works using thread, pigment, and textured fabrics. This project aims to blur the line between craft and fine art. 

Emily Randall will research creating a punk-inspired pop-up art show in the River Valley. This exploratory phase will focus on sustainable material testing, site research, and community conversations. 

Gillian Moon will develop her skills in roller skating and roller dance in order to add to her aerial practice with a specific future show in mind. 

Heart Berry Studio will begin a research-driven exploration of Métis capotes — historic wool coats made from point blankets — through sketching, sampling, and material study as a foundation for future textile and beadwork-based creations. 

Jessica Truong will document the Documenting Hung Mon Lion Dance Club and seek a film mentorship with the goal of developing a short documentary film demo. 

Jan Xu will create a set of nine hand-painted watercolor illustrations inspired by insects at the Royal Alberta Museum, reimagined as playful characters to spark curiosity, encourage learning, and foster appreciation of biodiversity. 

Joel Marsan will add foundations of skills such as character development, expression, and acting to his practice of aerial and ground circus arts. 

Laurel Westlund will expand her study of kinetic silkscreened wood sculptures by integrating electronic components to automate their movement, rather than relying on manual intervention. 

Lauren Brady will create and write a one-act play, Gerald, exploring theatre, composition, clown, physical comedy, and humour related to humanity. 

Madelaine Mae Dack will create a stop-motion animated short film based on the story of an isolated sheep living in a human-focused environment. 

Miranda Allen will research and explore how to build a stiltwalker-sized wheelchair. 

Oliver Lessard will experiment with how recycled media can be reshaped into new stories by sourcing and re-editing home videos, informercials, instructional tapes, public access programming, and local television commercials into a short, conceptual collage film. 

Olivia Nin will research black francophone music that speaks about the experience of immigration in Canada and bring these song to new life through new choral arrangements. 

Patricia Darbasie will research life in Edmonton in the 1920’s to complete a play about the black community and Rev. Salter. 

Raena Waddell undertook a two-month research period exploring presence, wisdom, and compassion in movement, examining how the maturing dancer navigates time, memory, and physicality, alongside choreographer Jill Henis. 

Riaz Mehmood will research and collect stories for a Pashto-English children’s book shaped by the voices and values of the Edmonton Pashtun community. 

Sheiny Satanove will collect and preserve stories of her late husband, actor and director Julien Arnold, creating a foundation for future artistic work that honours his legacy and impact. 

Viktoria Grynenko will study rare archival sources in New York (as well as the ones already gathered from the UK), transcribe violin scores for ballet, and write a research paper. 

Individuals & Collectives Fall 2025 results: Stream 2 

With funding from Stream 2 of the Individuals & Collectives program, artists and arts professionals may receive support to pursue mentorship, attend a residency, or other forms of professional development. Projects may be individual or collective, and grants are available up to $10,000 based on projected expenses, including artist subsistence. It is not necessary for an application to Stream 2 to be connected to a specific work, but receiving mentorship, attending a residency or professional development may be directed towards potential future work. 

Twelve (12) applications we recommended for funding in Stream 2 for a total investment of $100,256.

Learn more about the recommended projects below: 

Abøn will undertake an in-depth training and mentorship period of nine months before the creation phase of their next album. They will also study with an Ableton certified instructor, and vocal and performance coaches. 

Allen Belcourt participated in the in-person portion of the Whistler Film Festival Indigenous Filmmaker Fellowship (IFF25) Episodic Series Edition, which took place in December 2025. This fellowship opportunity is designed to support Indigenous creators in developing original screen content. 

Alyson Dicey will participate in a 25-week mentorship with arts leader Fawnda Mithrush to develop fund development, sponsorship, and stewardship skills, strengthening her capacity to help indie theatre companies grow sustainably and amplify community voices. 

Benjamin W. Smith will undertake a five-month private mentorship with Citadel Theatre’s Artistic Director, Daryl Cloran, providing immersive, executive-level access, exposure, and development in artistic leadership, administration, and community stewardship within Canada’s professional theatre sector. 

Christine Lesiak will travel to London, England to participate in The London Clown School, and study scholar Dr. Jon Davison’s clown training pedagogy, April 2026. 

Clare Mullen will attend the Story & Leadership program offered by Women in the Director’s Chair. This professional and project development program focuses on live-action screen fiction and offers pathways to effective leadership. 

Elise Truong will travel to the Brooklyn Shoe Space to learn the skill of shoemaking to advance her skillset in making head-to-toe costumes. 

Everett Sokol will work with mentor Trevor Anderson and elder Kokum Rose over three phases of development working towards a rough draft of their feature film Bobby.

Jon Martin and Lovers will participate in one-on-one songwriting and production mentoring with producer Gethin Pearson and attend a five-day songwriting workshop at Rockfield Studios in Wales. 

Nicole Maloney will train as a directing mentee under Murray Utas through the rehearsal and technical process of directing Countries Shaped like Stars for Fringe Theatre’s Mainstage Season. 

Kijo Gatama will embark on a playwrighting opportunity with the Ndere Institute, documenting and adapting community narratives from Batwa, Kampala, and Kyabanyoro into short plays, advancing cross-cultural story preservation and strengthening African-Canadian theatre connections. 

Sarah Dowling will be mentored by director Julie Tomaino as her assistant director on her production of Come From Away at The Grand Theatre through the Assistants and Associates Program. 

Read about the fall 2025 Individuals & Collectives Stream 3 recipients here.

Interested in applying for an Individuals & Collectives grant? The Winter 2026 deadline is March 2, 2026 at 11:59 AM (noon) and applications are now open!